Broken back repair on my Sabrina doll

Siliconeman · Post by **Siliconeman** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:30 pm

Well it finally happened, back was broken in one of my dolls. Surprisingly it broke on one of my newest dolls, my SM175L "Sabrina".
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=124863&hilit=meet+sabrina

I was preparing her for a new photoshoot and had her lying on couch. As I lifted her feet I could feel that something was wrong and her upper torso felt very loose. I immediately knew what had happened. Photoshoot had to be postponed until I could get her back into shape.

Firstly I made a cut to her back to get access to broken part of her back.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_01.jpg (146.76 KiB) Viewed 7349 times

Just as I suspected, back had broken at T-section where her backspine connects to her part just above pelvis.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_02.jpg (166.13 KiB) Viewed 7349 times

: _Sabrina_backrepair_03.jpg (172.12 KiB) Viewed 7349 times

Pipes used were very thin and normal usage broke her back at weak point.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_04.jpg (177.1 KiB) Viewed 7349 times

I decided to reconnect her back with 6mm screw and with a piece of pipe. At the picture below I have drilled 6mm hole to lower end of her spine.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_05.jpg (182.72 KiB) Viewed 7349 times

I bought regular plumbing pipe with inner diameter 25mm and removed some of the threads with a lathe and cut it in half. I selected one of the halves and drilled 6mm hole on it.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_06.jpg (182.56 KiB) Viewed 7349 times

6mm bolt and washer will connect this half pipe to lower back.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_07.jpg (188.21 KiB) Viewed 7349 times

Pipe connected to back. I used nylock bolt at upper end so that this screw could not get loose.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_08.jpg (193.64 KiB) Viewed 7349 times

Siliconeman · Post by **Siliconeman** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:33 pm

: _Sabrina_backrepair_09.jpg (222.85 KiB) Viewed 7348 times

Half pipe construction is now pressed to her pelvis-pipe.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_10.jpg (185.31 KiB) Viewed 7348 times

I first align the construction by using zip-ties.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_11.jpg (189.27 KiB) Viewed 7348 times

Proper connection is made by using pipe-clamps

: _Sabrina_backrepair_12.jpg (189.56 KiB) Viewed 7348 times

I use two pipe-clamps one at each side.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_13.jpg (200.92 KiB) Viewed 7348 times

Her back is now fixed but I must be careful with her

: _Sabrina_backrepair_14.jpg (198.31 KiB) Viewed 7348 times

She can now sit straight again.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_15.jpg (236.96 KiB) Viewed 7348 times

I will close her back with heated knife, she has some superficial damage on her lower back.

: _Sabrina_backrepair_16.jpg (166.67 KiB) Viewed 7348 times

Thanks for reading. This was how I repaired a broken back. Hopefully I don´t encounter many broken back in future. So far I have been very lucky with my dolls.

Cheers!

Siliconeman

Dollarhyde · Post by **Dollarhyde** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 2:22 pm

Excellent repair Siliconeman thanks for sharing... question? Could you have used JB Weld to make the repair even stronger then the original weld?

Siliconeman · Post by **Siliconeman** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 2:51 pm

Hi!

Yes, any kind of epoxy would have made the connection even better. There may now be sight movement with repaired part. Epoxy would possibly had set it to be more rigid.

SiliconeWorld · Post by **SiliconeWorld** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 4:15 pm

Ditto on the excellent repair! Closure of the "incision " looked very well done.

Your post with step-by-step pictures/description makes it so interesting as well as valuable.

Posts like this makes TDF such a wealth of information to "doll" enthusiasts

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 4:34 pm

All the tradespeople go "Damn fine job there mate!"

Cameramike · Post by **Cameramike** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 6:14 pm

Amazing job... well done...

Silver Silence · Post by **Silver Silence** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 6:28 pm

Excellent repair tutorial! A lot of doll owner I know have broken doll spine. This repair is much needed. Thank you!

Post by **Tsall** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 7:47 pm

Sad to her that her back broke. But nice to see how you repaired it. Nut much needed to do it and it looks sturdy.

Why do they use such thin material? I will never understand that. I discovered the same thin pipes when repairing one of my dolls.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Sat Mar 14, 2020 8:45 pm

Thin material=lighter and cheaper, and not necessarily in that order

vinylmaster13 · Post by **vinylmaster13** » Fri Mar 27, 2020 2:40 am

Hi

Yes some skeletons are a very cheap shit and ,as I see , all of them are broken in the same part= spine's welding with the legs' chassis . They use a very thin 28 mm pipe , the metal is less than 1mm and that is an extremely mega stress zone that , in my opinion must be done other way (obviously more expensive :drinking:

). My UF doll Carmen broke the same way and I have her opened the same way as you but I have not repaired her yet . I have been thinking a lot of ways and , the one I was going to use was using metal Ts with 8mm bolts , but your solution is better and faster . The only problem I see is the small square welded in the front part of the pipe(chassis) ,so I will have to make that cut too . Thank you .

I hope manufacturers will solve this problem reinforcing that part.

Siliconeman · Post by **Siliconeman** » Sat Apr 04, 2020 3:12 pm

Hi all!

I recommend using both halves of the reinforcement pipe. At the pictures I have used only one half pipe but I recommend to use both halves covering the weak original pipe. I re-did my back repair one more time this way and her back feels very nice.

Cheers!

Siliconeman

Pumpster · Post by **Pumpster** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 8:02 am

Gotta admire ingenuity of folks when worst things happen.

David919191 · Post by **David919191** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 9:43 am

Wow ....... well done. There is no way I could attempt that. I would have to take the expensive option of buying a new doll

Is this a common issue as I’ve not long received my first doll and her joints are quite stiff. I’m scared to move her now

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 6:38 pm

The number of dolls functioning without problems far outweighs the number of dolls with problems such as this.
That does not mean there are no doll owners facing challenges when things go wrong with their pride and joy.
Also not every doll owner has the circumstance to do repairs such as these for a wide variety of reasons.

As with anything manufactured, you takes your chances that it will be problem free.
Most times it will be, sometimes it is not